Alta Via 1

The Dolomites are, in Walkopedia's opinion, Europe 's most thrilling mountains, arguably it's most beautiful and certainly it's most outlandish. The area is riddled with outstanding walks, but the Alte Vie are recognized Crown Jewels.

Everyone has seen pictures of the Dolomites, but the reality will always exceed your expectations. The vast limestone towers that soar, thousands of feet above the surrounding scree and high meadows, with beautiful, often virgin, mixed forest on the lower slopes, evoke the grandest serene majesty. They are not as high as the tallest Alps, but outdo all but the greatest (the Matterhorn, the Eiger and the like) for sheer drama.

The Alte Vie routes are brilliantly chosen, winding across high stony plateaus and meadows, under an ever-changing backdrop of cliffs and soaring massifs.

Alta Via No.1 begins at the immaculately pretty Lago di Braes, above the wide valley that separates the Dolomites from the Alps. After briefly rounding the lake, it turns south and climbs steeply into the highlands, taking in the First World War battlefield below the enormous Le Tofane, cresting the high Nuvolau with its tear-inducingly beautiful 360^o views, and circuiting the huge towers of the Pelmo mass. For us, the highlights were descending the narrow gully, between huge, smooth cliffs, from the Forcella del Lago, an extraordinary little gap in a long, soaring spine, to the beautiful little Lago di Lagazuoi (the view back across the lake, partly obscured by shreds of poetic Chinese mist, was especially beautiful); the World War I relics around the base of Le Tofane and the subsequent traverse below that massif, with (on a good day) its extraordinary views; the gut-wrenchingly exposed but wildly exhilarating via ferrata (cable and ladder assisted) descents from the Nuvolau ridge; the ascent round the desolately magnificent bowl of broken boulders and snow of the Val d'Arcia and the subsequent descent down a vertiginous shale slope and via ferrata Pelmo cliff traverse on the Sentiero Flaibani (Tip: if a route has a name, it is likely to scare you into nightmares that night). Amazing.

Note: The via ferrata sections involve real risk (don't try them in bad weather and make sure you are suitably equipped) and are probably a thrilling challenge for the minority of walkers, terrifying for the rest. There are good alternatives to all via ferrata sections.

A glory of Alta Via 1 is its regular refuges, all simple but comfortable and providing food, with some at hotel standards. Many have outstanding views. You can, as a result, walk for days with a medium weight pack only.

The Dolomites enjoy a rich plant and animal life you will be delighted by the bright alpine flowers you will see throughout the walking season. The forests are a mixture of pine and deciduous trees. You are likely to see marmots and may see chamoix. Eagles, white partridges, choughs and capercaille are about.

Not many people have the time to walk the whole 150km of the Alta Via, but, with frequent access and exit points, creating a route to suit your time and inclination is not difficult. Day walks are very possible.